Miya’s brows scrunch down. “What are you? Some sort of masochist?”

“You were always... Such a weakling. Always so trusting of others, always doing what’s best for others and not yourself.”

Loliel then throws her over her head and jumps atop of Miya, grabbing her by the shoulders with their faces only inches apart.

“You always let others beat you when you knew you were stronger! So why don’t you just stop being a weakling and just hit me dammit!”

Vivi and Maxim rush through the arena’s sliding doors, with Adelae, Koko, and Ashihei not to far behind. Loliel’s eyes start to water, with tears flowing down her face and pattering onto Miya’s cheek and shirt.

“G-Get off of me you freak!” Miya shouts, kicking Loliel from atop of her and jumping back with a glare.

Before Loliel could lunge forward, Vivi and Koko restrict her by the arms.

“You were always so reckless! So childish! Why couldn’t you just follow my instructions and just… just…”

Vivi caressed Loliel’s hair and bent down, wrapping her arms around her until she stopped muttering to herself.

“I know you’re hurting, Loliel, we all are. But one thing that we can’t do is burden ourselves with something we had no control of.”

Kyamyo, Koko, and Adelae bend down near Loliel and hug her close as well.

“We’re here for you.” Adelae murmurs.

“You’ll always be Captain, but you’ll first and foremost be our friend.” Kyamyo agrees.

Koko nudges her cheek against Loliel’s. “You saved me when no one else could, I won’t let you go through this alone.”

A snicker makes them perk their heads up to Miya a few feet away.

“They said that humans were emotional creatures, but this… This is just pathetic.” Miya mocks with a belittling sneer.

Adalae’s verdant pupils burn with a neon-blue glare; She leaps from the ground and walks over to Miya before raising her hand in the air.

A resonating clap echoes around the room with Miya’s head turning to the side in a quick motion. Adelae comes to her senses and looks down at her palm and at the red mark across Miya’s cheek in astonishment.

Miya’s face turns slightly to the side, her piercing ruby eyes hidden beneath making Adelae take a step back.

“Y-your all the same… Such uncaring and hurtful monsters! All Yal’valt will always be the same! Just go away!”

Miya gazes down at her Patroller badge now sitting on the ground, reflecting her changed appearance. White streaks of hair became monochrome along her black bangs, her teeth now sharpened and wolf-like, and the most monstrous being her black irises surrounding her crimson pupils.

Her face then lifts to meet Maxim, Vivi, and Koko staring at her as well.

She clenches her fists at her sides but lets them rest with a deep breath.

“You’re right. I… I should go. This was a waste of time anyway, I’ll just find a contact to Stravos somewhere else.”

Miya bends down to collect her badge and then walks past Loliel, giving her a sullen gaze before dashing through the hatch door with her eyes closed shut.

Adelae raises a hand toward her but balls it into a fist.

Maxim scratches the top of his head with an annoyed gaze. “You always have to speak your mind, don’t you? Learn to have a filter for Lavora’s sake.”

Adelae turns to him with a glare. “Me? What about you? Two times today you’ve made the mistake of confusing her for Loliel’s dead kin! Why don’t you just get your eyes checked before you complain to me, Mango-head!”

“Black abyss!”

“Fruit bowl!”

“Nova Nuisance!”

“Orange Je—“

“Enough!” Vivi shouts, making the bickering duo turn away from each other.

“No more fighting for today, please… Let’s just all cool off.”

Kyamyo turns to the door with a worried emoji on her screen. “Should… Someone go check on Miya, she seemed kind of sad…”

Vivi looks around the room and nods her head side to side. “I think, we’re fine in that department. Maxim, get a dysto-mop and clean the sparring room, it’s covered in blood. Koko and Adalae, could you help Loliel to the medical bay and take care of her injuries? Kyamyo you might need to take a look at her arms as well to see if she needs any repairs done.”

“On it, doc.” Maxim salutes, locking eyes with Adalae before running through the hatch.

Adalae runs over to assist Koko in helping Loliel from the floor.

Kyamyo’s screen turns to two blinking eyes with a lightbulb above them. “Oh! Oh! Why don’t we make dinner for them when they get back!”

Vivi smiles at her and nods her head. “That’s a wonderful idea. Good thinking, Kyamyo.”

She gives the cyborg a pat on the head, making her screen turn to a red-blush emoji.

“What makes you so sure she’s coming back?” Loliel stops advancing toward the exit.

“You should know your father and his way with words. If there was ever such a thing as a perfect mediator, he’d be a picture definition.” Vivi affirms with a smile.

“… Don’t worry, she’ll be back.”

. . .

The setting sun on the horizon painted the sky in a dense set of purple and orange hues in the distance. Miya walks down the stretch of sand away from the bunker’s large metal doors, the towering industrial buildings stretching their elongated shadows beneath her steps.

She then stops and sniffs the air, whipping her gun from her holster and turning down with a scowl.

Ashihei throws his hands up with a jolt, tilting his glasses atop of his nose with widened eyes. “Ah, I-I’m sorry if I frightened you. I was just hoping that we could talk…”

“Talk? There’s nothing to talk, about. It’s obvious that none of you want me here, even more obvious that you all have some sort of grudge against the Ya’valt. I’ll just take my leave and we’ll never cross paths again.”

Ashihei takes off his lenses and wipes the smudges clear on his sleeve. “How close are you… With your parents, if I may pry.”

“My… My parents…”

Miya’s head lowers along with her handgun. “I don’t… I never knew them…”

“Well then, you and Adelae have something in common.”

Miya raises her head slightly.

“Unfortunately she’d been traveling planet to planet in hopes of finding her family. They split up after the Federation attacked their home world.”

Miya shoves her gun back into her holster with a sullen look.

“When Earth was raided by the Ya’valt several years ago, Maxim and Kyamyo’s parents were taken from them, leaving them stranded. And Koko’s mother was murdered right in front of her by one of the invading soldiers in her own home.”

“W-well, you humans must’ve done something too—“

“Regardless, they’re still hurting and living on despite their dire circumstances… Loleil included.”

“Why did she go off like that? She talked to me as if I knew her or something.”

Ashihei tilts his glasses back onto his face with a hand. He then looks in the sky, his lenses reflecting the gray clouds making way for the protruding white neon lights racing in the blackening sky.

“… Valerie…”

“Valerie?” Miya repeats.

Ashihei takes off his glasses and wipes the corners of his eyes. “F-forgive me… It’s just that—“

—RAAAAAGH

Miya and Ashihei look behind them as a thunderous roar echoes through the air.

“Creeps… They’re right on time I’m afraid.” Ashihei narrows his eyes toward the near-distant cityscape.

“Those things that she mentioned earlier… Do they ever move away from that area?”

Ashihei nods his head. “Not usually. However, they do have a keen sense of smell and once followed us back to our bunker.”

He then turns his head. “We should go back inside, Loliel’s most likely preparing to—“

The humming of a motor makes him turn around to Miya now sitting on a purple hover-bike floating off the ground. She then starts to ascend up in the air and whisk past the metal doors of the facility.

“W-wait, you can’t take on those things alone Miya!” Ashihei exclaims with cupped hands.

“I’ve got it Ok! As a Space Patroller, it’s my job to keep all of you safe, not the other way around! I’ll just…”

She presses down on the throttle, making the back engines explode with blue light as she zooms off into the night sky.

“… I’ll just do it by myself.”